Original God Zhongli BG Xiao Qinglong traveled through time

Chapter 353 The Sound of Returning

The morning light shone through the carved wooden windows, weaving a fine golden net on the bluestone floor, like a floor of crushed stardust. When Zhongli entered the main hall holding the ragdoll cat that looked like a snowball, Hu Tao was sitting on the rosewood table with her legs crossed, counting paper money. The copper coins flying between the girl's fingertips suddenly stopped in mid-air, and her almond eyes opened wide - the snow-white cat in the guest's arms had a bandage wrapped around its neck, and a few faint golden bloodstains were faintly visible, as if someone had crushed the moonlight and embedded it into the wound, and every crack was flowing with fine light.

"Ahhh Mr. Zhongli!" The girl suddenly rushed over like a gust of wind, the red plum blossoms on the tip of her hair brushed across the cat's pink nose, startling the fragrance of a string of glass lilies, "You actually got it? You actually took the initiative to bring the cat back to the hall!!!"

Xizhi was so startled by the noise that his ears pressed against his head, and his round blue pupils shrank into two trembling vertical lines, like the surface of a lake wrinkled by the wind. Before Zhongli could speak, Hutao hugged the fur ball in his arms. The ragdoll cat's fluffy tail exploded in response, but the tip of the tail was always curled up to avoid the girl's wrist - there was a silver chain of the Reincarnation Butterfly wrapped around it, which was poking at the deepest piercing wound under its ribs, like a gentle but cruel lock.

"Oh my god, this feels so good!" Hu Tao buried his face in the cat's long fur, rubbing it, and his nose touched the bandage on the cat's neck that smelled of medicine. "It's softer than the cloud quilt that has been exposed to the sun for three days in Qingce Village! What's her name? What's her name?"

Her wrist accidentally pressed against the cat's soft belly, and there was a sudden unnatural depression under the fur that should have been warm.

“Meow—!”

The cat's shrill cry startled the birds under the eaves. The glass-like pupils of Xizhi were misty, and the pale golden scar pierced by the green rock suddenly burst, and blood beads rolled down the fluffy long hair, breaking into golden sand in the morning light, like a glass cup full of stardust being overturned. The gilded rock seal in Zhongli's sleeve suddenly lit up, and the golden pattern condensed by the rock element meandered along the cat's trembling back, wrapping the bleeding wound in an amber light cocoon again, as if coating the fragile treasure with divine armor.

"Master," he said, his voice rarely losing its composure, his jade ring unconsciously rubbing the tip of the cat's ear, "she is injured."

The morning breeze swept across the window lattice, rolling up the scent of ink that had not yet dried on the desk. Zhongli lowered his eyes and looked at the fur ball huddled in his arms. His Adam's apple rolled slightly. When he spoke again, his voice was wrapped in the sand and gravel that had settled deep in the earth veins: "Her name is Xizhi, Xi of the past, Zhi of knowing by doing. She is from Dihuazhou..." He paused, and his fingertips brushed over the unhealed cracks on the cat's claws, "A poor little thing that was snatched back from the claws of a monster."

Walnut could see the hideous cracks under the bandages. Those penetrating wounds seemed to be pierced by the claws of the abyss. Even though it was covered with the golden cocoon condensed by the Rock God himself, it was still rising and falling slightly with the breathing, as if it would break through this fragile shelter at any time. The girl froze in place, her fingertips hovering above the trembling ear tips of the cat, and her usually lively plum blossom pupils were covered with a layer of mist: "I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

Xizhi raised his head at this moment, and the pink flesh pad gently pushed her cheek, and the furry head rubbed against her palm that was frozen in mid-air. The cat made intermittent purring sounds in its throat, and the tip of its tail hooked the silver chain on the girl's wrist in a flattering manner, completely ignoring the traces of gold oozing out of the abdominal bandage, like a letter of understanding written in fluff.

Zhongli took the cat back into his arms and brushed the gold mark with his fingertips without leaving a trace. Xizhi immediately put his head against his wrist, wrapped his tail around the jade ring, and swept his palm with the tip of his tail, which was exactly the same rhythm as someone tapping a pen against a paperweight when grinding ink.

"The 77th generation head of Wangsheng Hall announces this!" The girl suddenly jumped onto the throne, and used a cinnabar pen to carve out flying dragon and phoenix ink marks on the rice paper. "Every day at 3:30 pm, it's time to comb and care for the pets of the hall!" She shook the dried glazed lily that she had taken away at some point, and the petals were still stained with morning dew. "Use this as a comb~"

"But guest..." Walnut tilted his head and looked at the light golden pattern on the tip of Cat's ear, "This name sounds familiar, it really didn't come from our family tree? It sounds like the name of a senior in the family..."

Zhongli chuckled, his gilded pupils glowing with a warm amber light: "It's okay, no one will mind. This name -" He looked down at the cat in his arms, whose ear was pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, with rock patterns flowing from his fingertips to the tip of its trembling tail, "suits her best."

Xizhi suddenly poked his head out, stared at the dried flowers with his blue eyes for a moment, and stretched out his claws to touch the petals. Zhongli felt the fur ball in his arms tremble slightly, and looked down to see the tips of the cat's ears flushed with coral red, and its tail was quietly wrapping around the tassel of the jade pendant on his waist, as if to untie a knot that someone had woven halfway five hundred years ago.

"Master," Mr. Keqing sighed helplessly, combing the cat's tangled tail with his fingertips, "I know you need to rest."

"I know~" Walnut came over with a smile and suddenly stuffed an almond candy into Mao'er's mouth, "But according to the rules of the Wangsheng Hall-" She shook the jade button that she had taken away at some point, "New members must go to Wuwangpo to test their courage~"

Xizhi's ears trembled at the sweetness, and the candy was stuck between his pink gums, and he was at a loss. Zhongli held the cat's chin with his slender fingers, and the warm rock element melted the candy. At the moment when the sweet fragrance filled the air, the cat suddenly froze, his blue eyes widened, and his tail "slapped" on Keqing's wrist, and the exploding fur brushed across his gilded lines, startling a piece of fine gold sand.

The copper bells on the eaves rang without wind. Zhongli looked at the cat in his arms pretending to lick its paws. The chuckle that escaped from his throat startled the sparrows perched on the beams: "It seems... it's time to teach them some new rules."

In the morning light, the tips of Xizhi's snow-white ears turned as red as cinnabar, and the tip of her tail quietly wrapped around Zhu Qing's fingertips, turning the old wound that ran across her palm into the shape of an oath.